Extracts from Martin Callanan's valedictory article as ECR chairman
Martin Callanan was an MEP from 1999 until his defeat last week, and was the Chairman of the "European Conservative and Reformists" group in the European parliament which is the centre right group of pragmatic eurosceptic reformers which was set up when the British Conservatives (and most of the rest of those who joined the ECR) left the "European People's Party" (EPP).
The EPP is (still) the largest group in the European parliament: it is a grouping of centre right parties such as the German Christian Democrats. The British Conservatives were members of that group for many years but continued membership became increasingly untenable once the EPP started trying to do things like try to agree and impose a common manifesto and agree to support a common candidate for EU President. This is because most of the members of the EPP are Federalist, and the vast majority of Conservatives are now eurosceptic.
Martin Callanan is about the same vintage as myself, and I first met him when we were both involved in the late and unlamented Federation of Conservative Students. We didn't alwasy see eye to eye at the time but I respected and liked Martin, which is more than I can say for a lot of the people who were then active in national FCS.
His defeat in the North East election was not just the worst moment of last Sunday night for Conservatives - and the one moment a lot of us nearly lost our composure - but the worst moment of the night for intelligent Eurosceptics. But I am sure he will be back in some way, shape or form.
Paul Goodman at Conservative Home has been running "Callanan for Commissioner" articles and we could do an awful lot worse for Britain's next EU Commissioner.
Also on ConHome Martin has written a valedictory column about what Conservative MEPs have achieved during his 15 years in the European parliament. It's an excellent piece and here are a few extracts:
"Clearly, we have work to do if we are to show many voters that our values are their values; but I believe these values are an asset as we continue to rebuild our party in the north. Don’t let anyone say it is a Labour heartland. Labour’s metropolitan leadership take its support for granted, and we must never allow them to. We have some incredible talent in our party’s northern regions, and I will do all I can to support it as we take the fight to complacent Labour."
"Realistically, governing parties do badly at elections. People are not fully feeling the effects of the economic recovery in their pockets and wage packets. Against that backdrop, to almost beat the main opposition party is a fantastic achievement.
"In 1999, we won the European elections by a landslide. We all know what happened in 2001. This result was not good for Labour. And for the Liberal Democrats, they proved that they are the Party of ‘IN’ – IN deep s**t. On a personal level, of course, there were some LibDems I got on better with than others (and some that I didn’t get on with at all), but I have some experience of what they must all be feeling. I wish them well with whatever they do in the future.
"I also share my sympathy with two sitting Conservative MEPs also not elected: Marina Yannakoudakis and Marta Andreasen. Marina saved UK businesses £2.5 billion in unrealistic maternity leave payments that the EU was trying to mandate. She has led a campaign against female genital mutilation, and opposed patronising EU plans for women quotas on company boards.
"Since joining the Conservatives, Marta has worked tirelessly and deployed her vast experience on budgetary control issues, highlighting waste in EU spending. She was an excellent addition to the MEP team, and was making a major contribution to our work. I am sure that we have not heard the last of either of them.
"The European Parliament is frustrating, wasteful and often remote – but, increasingly, it matters
"This might sound odd and even quite concerning, but decisions in the European Parliament are rarely made in the debating chamber, or even in the plenary votes. These days, they are usually made in what’s known as a trilogue – when a selection of MEPs, EU governments and the Commission come together to negotiate on details of specific laws. If you want to defend your interests – that is where it is done. Frankly, we are going to have to work even harder now that our numbers are depleted.
"Conservative MEPs really do work hard for Britain
"Delivering in these trilogues usually means hours of preparation during the day, followed by hours of talks during the night. They often start these talks at seven or eight in the evening so that the prospect of an all-nighter focuses people’s minds. It’s not glamorous, but we have to do it. Conservative MEPs sit in that room and demand what they want. At 3am, they often get it. I’ve been proud to have been a member of that team of talented and dedicated people from across the UK, and all walks of life. I will miss my colleagues and friends, some of whom I might have fought with on occasion, but all of whom I have respected.
"In the ECR, we have been proud that we sometimes have different national interests and priorities. We don’t paper over them: we encourage them. As chairman, I have learnt a lot about the background and reasoning for these different interests. In doing so, I have made many friends from across the continent and beyond.
"But let me also say that people from the ECR – and even many in other groups – also want to hear our national perspective on issues, and on the EU.
"We are respected in the EU, and what always amazed me was how an MEP would make a great British-bashing speech in the chamber, only to come up to me afterwards and say, ‘I wish we had the same guts as you and your Prime Minister.’
"As we start to talk about renegotiation and a major reform of how the EU does business, don’t always assume that everyone in Brussels is hostile. Going with the flow is too often an art-form there, and with the ECR we have started to show that the flow need not go in one direction. Others will be increasingly emboldened to call for something different.
"The ECR will continue to grow. It will continue to be more relevant. I’m so proud to have been a member and its chairman for the past thirty months, and I hope I can continue to help it expand."
You can read the full column here.
The EPP is (still) the largest group in the European parliament: it is a grouping of centre right parties such as the German Christian Democrats. The British Conservatives were members of that group for many years but continued membership became increasingly untenable once the EPP started trying to do things like try to agree and impose a common manifesto and agree to support a common candidate for EU President. This is because most of the members of the EPP are Federalist, and the vast majority of Conservatives are now eurosceptic.
Martin Callanan is about the same vintage as myself, and I first met him when we were both involved in the late and unlamented Federation of Conservative Students. We didn't alwasy see eye to eye at the time but I respected and liked Martin, which is more than I can say for a lot of the people who were then active in national FCS.
His defeat in the North East election was not just the worst moment of last Sunday night for Conservatives - and the one moment a lot of us nearly lost our composure - but the worst moment of the night for intelligent Eurosceptics. But I am sure he will be back in some way, shape or form.
Paul Goodman at Conservative Home has been running "Callanan for Commissioner" articles and we could do an awful lot worse for Britain's next EU Commissioner.
Also on ConHome Martin has written a valedictory column about what Conservative MEPs have achieved during his 15 years in the European parliament. It's an excellent piece and here are a few extracts:
"Clearly, we have work to do if we are to show many voters that our values are their values; but I believe these values are an asset as we continue to rebuild our party in the north. Don’t let anyone say it is a Labour heartland. Labour’s metropolitan leadership take its support for granted, and we must never allow them to. We have some incredible talent in our party’s northern regions, and I will do all I can to support it as we take the fight to complacent Labour."
"Realistically, governing parties do badly at elections. People are not fully feeling the effects of the economic recovery in their pockets and wage packets. Against that backdrop, to almost beat the main opposition party is a fantastic achievement.
"In 1999, we won the European elections by a landslide. We all know what happened in 2001. This result was not good for Labour. And for the Liberal Democrats, they proved that they are the Party of ‘IN’ – IN deep s**t. On a personal level, of course, there were some LibDems I got on better with than others (and some that I didn’t get on with at all), but I have some experience of what they must all be feeling. I wish them well with whatever they do in the future.
"I also share my sympathy with two sitting Conservative MEPs also not elected: Marina Yannakoudakis and Marta Andreasen. Marina saved UK businesses £2.5 billion in unrealistic maternity leave payments that the EU was trying to mandate. She has led a campaign against female genital mutilation, and opposed patronising EU plans for women quotas on company boards.
"Since joining the Conservatives, Marta has worked tirelessly and deployed her vast experience on budgetary control issues, highlighting waste in EU spending. She was an excellent addition to the MEP team, and was making a major contribution to our work. I am sure that we have not heard the last of either of them.
"The European Parliament is frustrating, wasteful and often remote – but, increasingly, it matters
"This might sound odd and even quite concerning, but decisions in the European Parliament are rarely made in the debating chamber, or even in the plenary votes. These days, they are usually made in what’s known as a trilogue – when a selection of MEPs, EU governments and the Commission come together to negotiate on details of specific laws. If you want to defend your interests – that is where it is done. Frankly, we are going to have to work even harder now that our numbers are depleted.
"Conservative MEPs really do work hard for Britain
"Delivering in these trilogues usually means hours of preparation during the day, followed by hours of talks during the night. They often start these talks at seven or eight in the evening so that the prospect of an all-nighter focuses people’s minds. It’s not glamorous, but we have to do it. Conservative MEPs sit in that room and demand what they want. At 3am, they often get it. I’ve been proud to have been a member of that team of talented and dedicated people from across the UK, and all walks of life. I will miss my colleagues and friends, some of whom I might have fought with on occasion, but all of whom I have respected.
"In the ECR, we have been proud that we sometimes have different national interests and priorities. We don’t paper over them: we encourage them. As chairman, I have learnt a lot about the background and reasoning for these different interests. In doing so, I have made many friends from across the continent and beyond.
"But let me also say that people from the ECR – and even many in other groups – also want to hear our national perspective on issues, and on the EU.
"We are respected in the EU, and what always amazed me was how an MEP would make a great British-bashing speech in the chamber, only to come up to me afterwards and say, ‘I wish we had the same guts as you and your Prime Minister.’
"As we start to talk about renegotiation and a major reform of how the EU does business, don’t always assume that everyone in Brussels is hostile. Going with the flow is too often an art-form there, and with the ECR we have started to show that the flow need not go in one direction. Others will be increasingly emboldened to call for something different.
"The ECR will continue to grow. It will continue to be more relevant. I’m so proud to have been a member and its chairman for the past thirty months, and I hope I can continue to help it expand."
You can read the full column here.
Comments
By far the largest is, as you rightly point out, the European Peoples Party (EPP), the group incidently at which the UK conservative party used to sit.
The second largest are the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) here is where you would find the likes of Martin Schultz and the Labour party.
Ahem.
these two pro EU groups make up 494 MEP's from the available 751 MEPs, so we see they form the majority vote at all times.
They obtain further help from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group Where the Lib Dems sit, or at least where the Lib Dem sits on his own - "Splitter" they have 52 though so not a bad boost to the pro eu vote.
so we can look to the anti EU vote (well hardly anti) with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) raking in a whopping 46 MEPs (where the torys sit) and even with the cooperation of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group (EFD) where UKIP sit, then we see 38 more votes
or together EFD & ECR make up 11% of the vote.
Hardly encouraging news is it, and not really "earthquake" type stuff
That makes it difficult to get reform. It does not make it impossible.